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KG, Amar’e go down

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In an awful turn of events, the biggest news on deadline day and it’s aftermath happened to be two massive injuries that are sure to handicap two teams and a lot more fantasy teams.

First of all, Kevin Garnett went down Thursday against the Jazz.  He seemed to tweak his knee going up for an alley-oop and made sure not to land on it.  After hobbling his way off the court, he went to the locker room, and later came out to warm up for the second half.  According to Cheryl Miller at the game, he wanted to play, but was told not to.  Now he has been sent back to Boston for an MRI and will miss the rest of the Celtics’ West Coast road trip.  Stephen A. Smith reported the Celtics are estimating it could be four weeks, although no official word has been out.  Expect Leon Powe to start and produce.  This may also intensify the Celtics reported talks with recently-waived Mikki Moore.

The first team the Celtics will face without KG, the Suns, have taken what could end up being a bigger blow.  Currently 9th in the West and out of the playoff picture, the Suns lost Amar’e Stoudemire for eight weeks or more with a detached retina suffered in Wednesday’s blowout against the Clippers.  It’s an odd injury and could sideline him longer than eight weeks when all is said and done, which would probably put Phoenix in the lottery.  For now, it appears Louis Amundson will start, and on Tuesday in the first blowout against the Clippers, Lou scored 13 and ripped 8 boards with a block in 20 minutes.  Given the minutes, Amundson could be pretty valuable, so I suggest grabbing him.  Matt Barnes could also start, but that’s probably unlikely, even with the new running style offense.


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First Look: Friday, February 20

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Only two games tonight, and of course one was the lovely snoozefest the NBA calls Spurs/Pistons.  It was actually a good game, but I was happy enough watching the last two minutes, as I’m sure most people would be.  The Celtics/Jazz game was pretty good too, pretty close throughout.  Let me say, the Jazz look good.  They stayed composed and when they get healthy, they’ll be scary.  If I’m the Lakers or Spurs, I’m hoping they climb the standings.

Thursday’s best: Not a whole lot of impressive lines.  Could have gone with Timmy Duncan’s 18 points and 18 boards, but it was on some pretty shotty shooting (7-19).  Instead, we’ll give it to Allen Iverson, who went for 31 points, 3 boards, 7 dimes, a steal, and a block on 13-28 shooting.  Not too shabby on an otherwise unimpressive night around the league.

Thursday’s worst:  Gotta be Rip Hamilton.  He got 34 minutes off the bench in which he scored 4 points on 2-10 shooting.  Combined with Rodney Stuckey’s 2 points (although he did have 8 assists), a bad night from Rip did the Pistons in.

Keep an eye on:  Kevin Garnett’s injury and Gabe Pruitt. KG went down just before halftime with a “sprained knee.”  At the time of writing this, it’s pretty cloudy just how bad it is, but if he misses any time on this road trip, the Cavs could find themselves on top in the East.  With Tony Allen’s injury, Pruitt will get some extra burn.  He wasn’t extremely effective Thursday, but keep an eye out.

What to watch for tomorrow: Toronto at New York could be pretty exciting and high scoring.  The new-look Bulls take on a good Nuggets team in Chicago, so we’ll see if they’re really any good with Brad Miller and John Salmons.  And on national TV, the Hornets visit the Lakers.  Should be a doozy.


Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 5 - Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce
It was anticipated that it would be a summer of change for the Detroit Pistons. Soon after the Boston Celtics eliminated the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, the President of Basketball Operations, Joe Dumars, vowed to make some changes. He felt that his players were getting complacent and missing the sense of urgency they had during their championship run. Dumars claimed that he would trade any player on the roster and the only untouchable was Rodney Stuckey (?!).  A coaching change was the first course of action; Flip Saunders was fired and replaced by former Piston, Michael Curry. The summer has come and gone, the Detroit’s roster remains virtually the same heading into training camp (the lone addition was Kwame Brown (?!) as a free agent). Dumars has stated prior to the start of training camp that the nucleus of the team will stay together for now.

This year will be Chancey Billups’ seventh season with the Pistons; let’s see how the seven-year itch may affect his numbers this year. 

Round 3, Pick 5 – Chauncey Billups PG, Detroit Pistons

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 5 - Chauncey Billups


Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 8: Danny Granger

Danny Granger
Oh, Rob Babcock, why did you pass on this guy twice for the likes of Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham? Perhaps concerns lingered about his health, or he just did not want to cross the border north. Still, on the theoretical front, having Danny Granger at the small forward slot alongside Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal would have made a very formidable front line, fantasy or otherwise.

Granger had a break-out season in 2007-08. Can he continue to elevate his game to top 20 in fantasyland?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 8: Danny Granger


Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 5 - Kevin Garnett

Kevin Garnett
We have made some changes to the way we run our mock draft this year. First of all, we decided to put the focus on head-to-head league play. Secondly, although we continue to take turns making picks behind the scenes, we do not necessarily post articles on players that we picked. This way, we hope to at least have five new picks for review every week leading up to the start of the season.

Having said that, I paid extra attention to this slot in the order. This is where I will be drafting in my main league come October. Someone else made the pick, but this is someone I will have to seriously consider when I am on the clock.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 5 - Kevin Garnett


Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 4 - Amare Stoudemire

So the top three picks are pretty much no-brainers.  Nobody outside that trio should be considered to picked that high this year.  That said, a strong group follows them up, and in our mock, Amare Stoudemire was the lucky fourth.

With Injury concerns subsiding and a full summer of rest with no Olympics, he’s the safest big man pick on the board outside Kevin Garnett.  The reason I took him above KG is because of the dip we saw in his numbers in Beantown and the explosion of Amare post-Shaq.  Read on to see more.

The Fig Cap: One more shot at a title?  Suns fans are holding their breath…
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Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 4 - Amare Stoudemire


Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: Championship

Posted by Alvin Lai Categories: Site Features

An unexpected turn of events led to this conclusion to our two-on-two tourney, an event that started at the end of the 2007-08 NBA regular season.

We have a three-way tie.

Now what?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: Championship


Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: The Finals

Posted by Alvin Lai Categories: Site Features

Sarge has been on point with his commentary on the goings-on this off-season. We are gearing up for our annual mock draft blog and look for that to launch in early August.

For now, let’s finish off the two-on-two tourney! The twist that was hinted at last week? The four players that have made it this far now get to partner with each remaining competitor. This has been a two-on-two contest, but the champion will only be one man. So who’s it going to be?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: The Finals


Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: Semi-finals!

Posted by Alvin Lai Categories: Site Features

Our mock draft should be launching in a few weeks. Until then, our two on two tourney reaches its last couple of stages. The elite eight players that made it this far are an impressive bunch, Check it out.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: Semi-finals!


Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: Round 3, Games 3 and 4

Posted by Alvin Lai Categories: Site Features

Brand Name
Elton Brand signed his big contract with Philadelphia earlier in the week, and now must suit up for quarter-final two-on-two basketball! It might not be Federer vs. Nadal in the Wimbledon Final, but an interesting duo awaits Mr. Brand Name.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Two on Two Tourney: Round 3, Games 3 and 4


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